THE CORONAVIRUS lockdown appears to have been ignored by drivers as a worrying graph shows an uptick in the number of motor vehicles on the roads.

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A coronavirus graph has shown a concerning number of motor vehicles on the roads of the UK as Britons appear to have flouted the rules of the nationwide lockdown. Medical director, Dr Yvonne Doyle revealed a concerning graph as she told Brits to stay home. It comes as the number of people with coronavirus who have died in Britain rose by 563 to a total 2,352 by 4pm on March 31, the Government said on Wednesday. It added there were 29,474 confirmed cases of the virus at as 8am on Wednesday, up from 25,150 the day before.

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Speaking from Downing Street, Dr Doyle said: "This shows a slightly concerning trend because we have seen an uptick in motor vehicle traffic.

"The message here is, people do really need to stay at home."

"It's still too early to say whether the plateau of hospital admissions has ended but we've now seen three days of increases in a row and again, we need to protect the NHS, and the best way to do that is to stay at home, to avoid catching the disease yourself and obviously avoid giving it to anyone else."

On hospital admissions, she said London "is where coronavirus is most advanced", adding: "But the chart shows that the threat is everywhere, we need to protect the NHS everywhere and the Midlands now is obviously a concern as well."

The graph shows a concerning uptick in the use of motor vehicles (Image: SKY)

There has been an uptick in the use of motor vehicles (Image: SKY)

Comparing the UK to other countries, Ms Doyle added: "As things stand it has not been as severe here as in France and we're just tucked in under the USA and obviously Italy on a different trajectory, but... and Spain and the United States, as we've said.

"But there's no reason to be complacent."

It comes as Downing Street said more than 2,000 NHS staff have been tested for coronavirus as the Government faces intense scrutiny over its policy on testing.

Around 8,000 test per days are currently being carried out across the UK even though ministers previously claimed a target of 10,000 tests per day had been hit.

Coronavirus has infected thousands in the UK (Image: EXPRESS)

At present, the focus is on testing patients in hospital to see if they have coronavirus, with NHS trusts told earlier in the week they should use up to 15% of any spare testing capacity for NHS staff.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has now scrapped that cap, telling NHS hospital labs to use all spare capacity to test their frontline workers.

The Government has blamed a global lack of reagents needed to carry out tests, though the chemical industry in the UK suggested there were no shortages.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman told a Westminster briefing more than 2,000 NHS staff had now been tested, adding: "We're very clear that we want more testing to be carried out, and that we are working with NHS England, Public Health England and others to ensure that happens."